RFID or contact data carriers are, for example, used for the identification of goods, documents, animals and persons, e.g. in passports, driver licences, ID cards, health cards, banking cards, animal ID tags, special company cards, security cards, and the like. For instance, in medical and clinical applications, RFID data carriers are employed to identify medical goods, e.g. medicines, injections, vaccines, etc. Data carriers that are used in said fields have a typical thickness of 380 μm and less (down to 30 μm and even below, dependent on the application and fab and grinding/etching/polishing technology), and there is a tendency to ever reduce the thickness of the data carriers. This means that the wafers for manufacturing the data carriers in form of integrated circuits are as thin as paper and are bendable and twistable. It should also be mentioned that the substrates on which the ICs are defined often consist of flexible materials. However, bending and twisting, or in more general terms, exerting strains on the data carrier may cause malfunction of the data carrier or at least may result in operating the data carrier outside of its specification.
Document US 2005/0242957 A1 suggests to deactivate a data tag attached to the packaging for user privacy or tamper-indicating reasons. The data tag comprises a data circuit that stores identification information, like personal data, health information, security access data, money values and the like. A plurality of antennae is coupled to the data circuit. At least one antenna of the plurality of antennae is a removable antenna capable of wireless signal transmission at a first range such that removal of the antenna substantially prevents communication of the identification information via the removed antenna and permits communication of the identification information via another antenna. “Removal” of the first antenna is carried out by switching a load-sensitive switch into the electric path between the data circuit and the first antenna. This implementation can for instance be used to create an orientation-sensitive RFID chip container. In another embodiment, the data circuit is arranged at the body of a container, whereas the first antenna is arranged on a lid of the container. As long as the lid is appropriately positioned on the body of the container, an electrical connection between the data circuit and the first antenna is maintained. When the lid is removed from the body, the first antenna is physically disconnected from the data circuit, so that no wireless signals can be transmitted via the first antenna.
With this known solution, however, the data circuit is not aware whether or not signals can be transmitted via the first antenna. Thus, such a solution is only applicable to simple data tags that are basically adapted to transmit identification information as soon as they come into the range of a data reader, e.g. an RFID reader. A further disadvantage of this known system is that it depends on displacement of mechanical components, like wires, tongues of a switch and the like, which tend to be unreliable. Further, these mechanical components have to be positioned manually, which increases the manufacturing costs.